Arizona Post Conviction DNA Testing

The University of Arizona Innocence Project (UAIP), a legal clinic at the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law, seeks funds to conduct postconviction case review, pursue DNA analysis, and litigate for relief on behalf of convicted individuals with a viable claim of actual innocence. The intended beneficiaries of this project are individuals who have been convicted of violent felonies under Arizona state law and who may be exonerated through DNA analysis. UAIP believes there is a critical need for additional funding of postconviction DNA cases in Arizona where, though the carceral population is large, there have only been three DNA exonerations since 1989. The main objective of the project “to exonerate individuals convicted in Arizona with the assistance of postconviction DNA testing” will be pursued through multiple workflows. First, UAIP legal staff and law students will identify potential postconviction DNA cases through several sources: requests for assistance received through UAIP's intake system; referrals from the Pima County Attorney's Office Conviction and Sentence Integrity Unit (CSIU); case lists of felony convictions secured by two disgraced, former Pima County prosecutors; and notification of Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) hits incold cases. UAIP will then conduct case reviews to select cases where DNA testing could prove actual innocence and make records requests or pursue litigation to secure access to the biological evidence in those cases. Next, UAIP will contract with accredited laboratories to conduct DNA analysis, and where the results of DNA analysis are exculpatory, UAIP will work to secure an exoneration through legal avenues available in Arizona. UAIP will employ grant resources to fund additional legal staff, including an Assistant Director and a postgraduate Fellow. With this staffing secured, UAIP expects to have the capacity to work through 350-400 potential DNA innocence cases, and the capacity to ultimately litigate for relief in 3-9 of those cases. Grant funds will cover additional costs involved in case review and representation, including contracting with private investigators, traveling to interview clients and witnesses, paying for or litigating over access to records, hiring expert witnesses, and enlisting accredited laboratories to conduct DNA testing. UAIP is a member of the Innocence Network with a decade of experience in investigating wrongful conviction claims. In implementing grant funds, UAIP will resource partnerships it has carefully crafted with several other organizations in Arizona, including a productive and ongoing relationship with the Pima County CSIU.